Ralph Smith Descendents, Six Generations
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Charles Paul Smith P. O. Box 4931 Pittsfield, Mass. 01202-4931 [email protected] Introduction PLEASE WRITE in this ROUGH DRAFT !!!!!!!! This 1 Septeber 1996 Rough Draft is the 7.5 revision that will be presented to "The Association of the Descendants of Ralph Smith of Hingham and Eastham Massachusetts. The 60th anniversary of the Association in 1996 will be held at Eastham, Mass. A WARNING to the Smith historian, although everyone included in the Rough Draft is thought to be a descendant of Ralph Smith, time and corrections will reveal mistakes and omissions of a genealogical nature. Some of these Smith genealogies are weak, lacking in documentation. It might and probably will be necessary to either question or drop some of the weakly identified individuals from the future Rough Draft of Ralph Smith. There will be 6 copies of this 1 September 1996 Rough Draft (the 7th revision of the 1989 Rough Draft). The Historian & Genealogist of the Ralph Smith Association, is Carol Ann Ferris, 9 Burley St. Danvers, Massachusetts, 01923. Carol Ann would like to have Ralph's descendants make application to join the Association, We would all like to have your company. Other copies will circulate among knowledgeable genealogical societies who will recognize the present shortcomings of this Rough Draft. I hope the Draft will be marked up with corrections, citations, and suggestions by those who would like to see it improved. The biggest changes in this 1996 Rough Draft is the growth in Nova Scotian and Eastham families 7th generations, and sketch 97A, 160, 164, 173A, 200, 289, 345. TABLE OF CONTENTS A WORK BOOK ON 5 GENERATIONS OF DESCENT FROM RALPH SMITH 1610-1685 OF HINGHAM & EASTHAM MASS. ..................................... 1 GENERATION 2 THE FOUR SONS FAMILIES IN EASTHAM..................................... 11 THE THIRD GENERATION, 17 MARRIED, ALL BUT THREE EVENTS IN EASTHAM.......................................................................................................... 21 THE FOURTH GENERATION, THE MIGRATION FROM EASTHAM TO WELLFLEET, ORLEANS, TRURO, SANDISFIELD, MASS, BARRINGTON, NOVA SCOTIA, MIDDLETOWN CONN ON THE CONN RIVER, NORTHEAST N.Y...................................................................... 33 GENERATION 5 AND THEIR CHILDREN'S MARRIAGES .......................................... 77 BIBLIOGRAPHY ..........................................................................................................250 INDEX..........................................................................................................................260 A WORK BOOK ON 5 GENERATIONS OF DESCENT FROM RALPH SMITH 1610-1685 OF HINGHAM & EASTHAM MASS. The first publications mentioning Ralph Smyth were: 1862 [A Genealogical Dictionary of the First Settlers of New England on the basis of Farmers Register] by James Savage Vol III. page 129, Ralph, Hingham, from Hingham, Co. Norf. came, it is said by Lincoln, 1633, and sat down at our Hingham 1635; prob went to Eastham, there had Deborah, b. 8 Mar 1654. and prob. other ch. [N.E.H.& G.R. Vol. 26, April 1872 pg 190]. Ralph Smyth, of Hingham, Mass. The early settlers of present town of Hingham Mass were mostly from Hingham, County of Norfolk, Eng. and Cushing in his statement of those early settlers, mentions RALPH, as coming "from Old Hingham," in 1633, and against the name Cushing puts the Figure (1), clearly indicating that he came alone. His name first appears upon the Hingham records in 1637, when he drew a house lot on "Bachelor Street," now Main street. The Colony records call him "Ralph Smyth," and as late as Sept. 22, 1652 the probate records for Suffolk Co. say "Ralph Smyth," of Hingham (N.E.H.& G.R. Vol VIII p. 61.) The New England Historical & Genealogical Society's "The Great Migration Study Project". It is producing brief genealogical studies of all those people known to have come to New England between 1620 and 1643. These studies survey all that is currently known about each immigrant and bring together in one place material which is now scattered among several reference works, some long out of date. In the first three years, the Project focused on the years from 1620 to 1633, during which time only one tenth of the total immigrants of the Great Migration arrived. By beginning with this smaller group, it is possible to establish procedures and standards for the study of the much larger number of immigrants who arrived in the decade from 1634 to 1643. The Project Director is Robert Charles Anderson, F.A.S.G., of Salt Lake City, Utah. He surveyed all known primary sources for the period of the Great Migration, entered those records into a single database, and from this database and other primary and secondary sources compile the genealogical studies. The Ralph Smythe who came to Bare Cove in 1633 on the Elizabeth Bonadventure went to Charlestown, there he likely met the fiddler Thomas Hatch and his wife Grace __ Lewis Hatch. Ralph returned to Hingham, in 1637 he lived on Batchlor street, married by 1639 had 6 children, went into a business that he later sold __ Hobart, Ralph emigrated to Eastham prior 1654 where his 7th child was born. Ralph Smith of Eastham remarried Grace Hatch of Yarmouth July 1992 [NEH&GR] essay by Roger Thompson "Social cohesion in early New England" mentions the Rev Robert Peck and Rev Peter Hobart of Hingham, Co. Norfolk England who migrated to Hingham, Mass. "It is a truism that 1630s migration to New England was a family enterprise" **"people in the eastern counties migrated not just in families, but in coalitions of families. They called them companies. These companies were assembled in three ways. Some were the clients and neighbors of a gentle emigrant. Some were devoted followers of a Puritan preacher. Most however, were groups of relatives (often including servants), moving to the New World together or in series." Clerical companies: "Matthew Wren, Bishop of Norwich, wrote that lecturers [preachers] abounded, especially in Suffolk. Not a market, or bowling green or an ordinary [inn] could stand without one" **"Hingham and Norwich had provided martyrs in the persecution of the Lollards, the 15th century proto-protestants, and many more East Anglian religious radicals**". "The ministerial companies are numerous ** and Robert Peck's of 1638". "By far the largest company to follow church leaders came from Hingham, Norfolk. Following ministers Rev. Robert Peck and Rev Peter Hobart, 143 people emigrated from the parish of St. Andrew between 1633 and 1640; a futhur sixty two left neighboring towns and villages. Peck had a long record of non- conformity. A man of presbyterian leanings, like his younger Hingham-born colleague, "the old fox," as he was known to the bishops officials, had been convicted as far back as 1615 of teaching the Puritan scruples **. In 1622 he and twenty-two saints were charged with conventicling. Like Cotton at Boston, Lincolnshire, he appears to have been acknowledging a church of the elect within the wider St. Andrews congregation. ** The last straw for the church authorities was Hingham's response to the Laudian injunction that proper alters at the east end should replace the central communion tables. To Puritans this smacked of the return of the Papist Mass. In St. Andrews an alter was obediently placed at the east end, in a specially dug pit". "Even after his suspension in 1636, Peck continued to hold secret services for the elect. ** Only the threat of summons before the draconian Court of High Commission in London, drove the elderly minister and his devoted followers into exile in 1638. Some fellow villagers had already moved to New England **". "The exodus from Hingham of about a third of the town must have left the place feeling semi-deserted**". "The Hinghamites supporting Robert Peck were widely intermarried**". We know nothing of Ralph other than the Elizabeth Bonadventure departed England in 1633 for Bare Cove (Hingham). Most of the passengers were supposed to have come from Hingham Norfolk England. Cushing says Ralph came in 1633. He allegedly went to Charlestown, and left for Bare Cove, where he is first on record in 1637 drawing a house lot on Bachekor Street. Presently Ralph's English background is a mystery, what would be fair to talk about is what a man born circa 1610 would be aware of, what would be common knowledge for a 23 year old man. From the 1961 fourth edition of [A history of England and the Empire- Commonwealth] by Walter Phelps Hall. As we know our parents world, Ralph's parents grew up in the reign of Elizabeth I 1558-1603, the younger daughter of Henry the VIII. His parents would have talked of "The Glorious Age", the sea dogs Hawkins, Drake, the Virginia colonizer Sir Walter Raleigh, the defeat of the Spanish Armada in 1588, and the breaking of Spanish sea power in 1591, which opened the Oceans to the English, Dutch and French. Lord Mountjoy who broke the Irish Revolt in 1601. William Shakespeare who died in 1616, his work was well known to the common people of London. Author Christopher Marlowe, Poet Edmund Spencer and scientist, philosopher Francis Bacon set the intellectual level of the times. James the first 1603-1629, was a Stuart, a Scot replacing the Tudor reign. The Elizabethan times were replaced by unrest, Guy Fawkes in 1605 was arrested in the gunpowder plot. He was found under the House of Lords with the gun power, The intention was to blow up the King and Parliament. The penal code was stiffened against Catholics. now more in disfavor than ever. " Puritan" described left-wing Protestants within the Church of England who demanded simpler church rites and a more Calvinistic theology. The early Puritans grew steadily more radical became known as "forward" or "advanced" Puritans, regarded bishops with dislike, and as a whole, generally favored a Presbyterian form of church government, Some of them became "Separatists," desiring to break with the Church of England. Of the latter a few called Brownists, set up independent meetings of their own and adopted a Congregationalist form of government, which made the individual congregation an independent unit and even did without the presbyteries.